


Avoidance

by thebaddestwolf



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Ficlet, Missing Scene, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 17:43:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3987028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebaddestwolf/pseuds/thebaddestwolf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A conversation between Jeff and Annie immediately following the "Modern Espionage" paintball fight. (So, spoilers for 6.11.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Avoidance

Annie sat down on the steps in front of the school and slipped her heels off, sighing with relief. She checked her phone and texted Abed  _again_  – what was supposed to be a quick game of D&D with Garret didn’t seem to be ending anytime soon, and she wanted to go home.

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

She flinched, hand flying to her chest, and narrowed her eyes at Jeff as he sat down next to her. 

“Creep much? I didn’t even hear you.”

“Sorry.” He smiled at her, elbows resting on his knees, and she felt her annoyance fade away. “Thought if you heard me coming you might run off.”

Annie rolled her eyes and then looked away, focusing on her cuticles. 

“I guess I have been avoiding you. A little.”

Jeff inched closer to her on the step so their legs were nearly touching. She could feel his gaze on her but kept her eyes downcast until he jostled her knee with his own.

“If you’re waiting for me to guess why, we’ll be here all night.”

Grinning in spite of herself, she bumped his knee right back.

“It’s just… I don’t know. I guess I was sad,” she said. “The other times we’ve played paintball, you and I– we’ve been sort of a team. But this year is so different. Something’s changed, but I can’t put a finger on what.”

She turned to him, eyes pleading, but Jeff only grimaced and hung his head. So she continued on.

“I figured, if we weren’t going to partner up this year at least it could be my doing. And Abed really wanted to act out this dance scene from a James Bond film so…”

She trailed off, watching his brow furrow and jaw tighten.

“I’m sorry things are different,” Jeff said, addressing the concrete. “It’s my fault. It’s just– I…”

He groaned, running his hands down his face in frustration, and Annie reached out to squeeze his leg. 

“There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”

He nodded, gaze trained on her fingers on his knee, then sighed. “I don’t know when talking to you became so difficult.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “We don’t have to talk.”

They smiled at each other, eyes sad, and Jeff wrapped his arm around her shoulder as Annie rested her head on his. She texted Abed again.

_Take your time._


End file.
